A Mermaids Secret
by Butterfly Ninja 14
Summary: Temaris adopted daughter Matsuri has a secret. What happens when Gaara finds out?  Rated T just to be safe. AU.
1. Adoption

**Ok, I've been wanting to post this fan fiction for like, forever. Why I didn't do it earlier I don't know. Oh well, better late than never I guess. I hope you like this! ( By the way, if something is written in italics then it's the characters' thoughts.) I don't own Naruto.**

**Matsuri POV:** _I'm so happy! After three years in the orphanage, I've been adopted! _ _I've been adopted by this lady named Temari No Sabaku. She seems really nice. She's nineteen years old. She has dark teal eyes and blonde hair. She's really pretty._ _She said that she has two little brothers that live with her. Their names are Kankuro and Gaara. Kankuro is seventeen years old and Gaara is fifteen. _

"Matsuri," Temari said.

"Yes?" I said.

"We're here," Temari said.

I looked up and saw a small one-story house.

We went to the front door. Temari took a key out of her bag, unlocked the door, and opened it. We went inside. I looked around. The house wasn't very big, but it was still really nice. The walls and the carpet were dark brown. There was a fireplace on one side of the room. All the furniture was either brown or dark green and there was a dark green rug in the middle of the floor.

"T-this is a really nice house," I said. _I can already tell I'm going to like it here._

"Arigato," Temari smiled. "Come on, I'll show you were your room is."

"O-ok," I said.

I followed Temari down the hall way. She stopped in front of a door and opened it. I followed her into the room.

The room was really pretty. The walls were painted a sea foam color. All the furniture was white. The curtains were light pink at the bottom and light orange at the top, like a sunset. And the carpet was light crème colored. The room reminded me of the beach.

"Do you like it? I asked the secretary at the orphanage what you liked and she said you really liked the beach," Temari said.

"I love it," I replied. "Thank you so much!" I hugged Temari.

I felt her hug me back.

})i({ })i({ })i({

At dinner I got to meet Temaris brothers. They were really nice. I found myself staring at Gaara. He was really cute. Luckily he didn't notice me staring at him. Temari said that he goes to the same school that I'm going to attend. Knowing that makes me feel a lot less nervous about starting school. At least I'll know somebody there.

That night, my last thoughts before I fell asleep were: _this has truly been the best day of my life._

**Please review! Like I said before, I've been wanting to post this story for a while, and I'd like to know what everybody thinks about it. And I love hearing from you guys! So please comment! **

**GaaraxMatsuri forever!**


	2. Nightmare

**Thank you Echo Uchiha and Silent Tears 2662 for reviewing chapter 1! I appreciate it! :) **

**This chapter takes place two days after chapter 1.**

**Matsuri POV:**_ "No! Mom! Dad!" I shrieked. I fell to the ground, crying. "No!" I said._

Then I woke up.

I sat up and looked around.

"Just a dream," I whispered to myself. The all-too familiar nightmare had returned. I seriously hate that nightmare. I'm not really sure if the reason I hate that dream is because I have it all the time (and I mean, all…the…freaking…time.) or the fact that it really happened. Ever since my parents' deaths, I've had that dream almost every night. I haven't had that dream in a while and I thought maybe I wouldn't have it again. Guess I was wrong.

"It's just a dream, Matsuri, go back to sleep," I told myself. I laid back down and tried to fall asleep. I started rolling around, trying to find a comfortable position. Unable to find one, I sat back up. I looked around. During the day, my room looks really pretty, but at night, it's dark and scary. It also gives me this feeling that I'm alone. I really don't like that feeling. That's when I remembered something that Temari-I mean mom, told me.

**Flash back**

**Temari stood in the doorway of my room.**

"**Goodnight," I said.**

"**Goodnight," Temari said. "If there's anything you need, just come to my room."**

"**Okay, thank you," I said.**

**Temari smiled. Then she turned off the light and shut the door.**

**End flashback**

I got out of bed and went to Temaris room. It took a while to find it in the dark. I finally found it. I slowly opened the door.

"M-mom?" I stuttered.

Temari said nothing.

"M-mom," I said a little louder.

"Hmmm?" Temari sat up. "Matsuri? Is that you?"

"Hai," I said. I bowed in apology. "Gomenasai, I'm sorry for waking you up."

Temari smiled.

"It's ok, is there something you needed?" she replied.

I looked up, and then stood up straight.

"Y-yeah, I-I had a nightmare," I stuttered.

Temari motioned for me to come to her. I stood next to her bed. Temari pulled me into a hug. For about half a second I was shocked, then I hugged her back.

After the hug, I sat down next to her.

"Do you want to talk about your dream?" She asked me.

I nodded.

"Ok, what happened in it?" Temari asked.

"W-well, it was a-a memory o-of the t-time, m-my p-parents d-died," I stammered.

Temari nodded.

I felt my eyes get watery. I felt tears running down my cheeks. Temari hugged me again.

"Do you want to sleep here for the rest of the night?" Temari asked.

I nodded.

"Okay," Temari smiled sweetly.

I wiped away a tear and smiled back.

I got underneath the blanket, and laid down next to Temari.

Temari put her hand on my shoulder. I smiled.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

**It feels a little weird having Matsuri call Temari mom. Oh well, I suppose I'll get used to it. Please comment! **


	3. Don't tell anyone this, but

**Hello! I'm so tired right now, and it's only 7:29 pm. So this chapter is going to be pretty short.**

**Matsuri POV: ** _Where am I?_ I thought when I woke up. _Oh yeah, that's right, last night Mom let me sleep in her room last night because I had a nightmare._

Mom was still asleep. I was still pretty tired so I laid back down. Just then, Gaara came into the room.

"Temari, I-"Gaara stopped talking when he saw that Temari was still asleep.

"M-mom," I said, gently shaking her. "G-Gaara wants to talk to you.

She woke up.

"Huh?" she said.

"G-Gaara wants to talk to you," I said.

Mom looked at Gaara. "What?"

"I'm going to Naruto's house," Gaara said. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Okay," Temari said.

Gaara left the room.

"Who's Naruto?" I asked.

"Gaara's friend," Temari answered.

"Oh," I replied.

"What time is it?" Mom asked.

I looked at the clock.

"8:15," I said.

"Okay, um, why don't you, go get dressed," Mom said.

"Ok," I said getting out of bed. "Thank you for letting me sleep here," I said.

Mom smiled.

"No problem," she said.

I smiled before leaving the room.

I went to my room and opened the closet door. I pulled out a light pink T-shirt and some jeans. I got dressed, and then I stood in front of the mirror, brushed my hair, and tied my yellow scarf around my neck. Before leaving my room, I grabbed my necklace and put it in my pocket, just in case. The part that went around my neck was a brown cord, and it had a white seashell on it.

That's right! You night be wondering what I meant by just in case. Well, I'll tell you a secret. I'm a mermaid. Whenever I get wet, l turn into a mermaid, and I stay like that for, about fifteen minutes after I've completely dried off. And this necklace will prevent that from happening. I would wear it all the time, but I can't, I'm not really sure why, but…how do I say this? Wearing it for long periods of time is pretty bad for me. So I only use it for emergencies. Like, if I know I'm going to get wet. Luckily, I haven't really had to use it, well, I wear it when bathing, but other than that, no, I haven't had to use it.

Well, that's all I have to say.

**Okay, this chapter was slightly longer than I thought it would be. I had Matsuri call Temari, Mom a lot in this chapter, it still feels pretty weird, but I guess I'm a little more used to it. Please review! Bye Bye! (bye the way, I'm still tired.)**


	4. Secret's out

**This chapter takes place the next day. I have nothing else to say.**

**Matsuri POV:** I walked into the kitchen. I noticed that Gaara was there.

"H-hi," I stammered.

"Hello," Gaara said.

I frantically started trying to find something to say.

"I-uh-uh," I stuttered.

Gaara gave me a confused look. I felt myself blushing. I hid behind my bangs, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Uh- W-what are you doing?" I asked.

Without saying a word, Gaara picked up a cup of instant ramen.

"Oh," I said.

"Do you want some too?" He asked.

Before I could answer, my stomach growled. I blushed even more. Gaara smirked a little bit. He went to the pantry, got another cup of instant ramen, and tossed it too me. Surprisingly, I caught it.

"Arigato," I said.

"No problem," Gaara muttered.

Gaara went to the sink and got some water. After that, he was walking to put the water in the microwave and he tripped and spilt water all over me.

I shrieked and tried to pull my necklace out of my pocket while trying to run away. I only managed to take one step before falling on the floor. I attempted to put my necklace on but it was too late. A bright white flash appeared and the next thing I knew, I was in mermaid form.

I sat up, or at least tried to (my mermaid tail made it hard to move.)

Gaara was staring at me. He had a 'what the heck?' expression on his face.

"I can explain," I said.

I took a deep breath and started talking.

"W-whenever I get wet, I-I turn into a mermaid," I said.

"H-has this been happening to you your entire life?" Gaara asked.

I nodded.

"Please don't tell anyone," I said.

Gaara knelled down next to me.

"I won't," he said.

"Thank you," I said.

"So…when will you turn back?" Gaara asked.

"I need to be completely dry, and then after fifteen minutes I'll turn back into my human form," I said.

"I'll be right back," Gaara said. He left the room. A few seconds later, he came back. "Here," he said, handing me a towel.

"Arigato," I said.

Then Gaara picked me up and carried me bridal style to my room and put me on the bed.

"Thank you," I said.

"No problem," Gaara said. He sat down at my desk.

I looked down. My blue skirt was over my jade green tail and my pink and blue shirt was over the jade-colored shirt that appeared when I turned into my mermaid form. Those clothes were also wet, and that was making it take longer for me to completely dry off.

I looked at Gaara, he was staring out the window. I blushed a little. I managed to pull of the shirt without him noticing. Luckily, the shirt I was wearing underneath it wasn't wet. I put the wet T-shirt down next to me. Now for the skirt. Gaara still wasn't looking. I undid the button on the front of the skirt and started sliding it off. I put the skirt down next to me.

**Gaara POV:** _I can't believe Matsuri's really a mermaid. Didn't know that kind of stuff is real._ I thought.

She looks pretty in her mermaid form. A few strands of her hair were wavy, and there was a light green flower in her hair, and she was wearing two necklaces. One was short and the other one was really long. Both necklaces had shells strung on them. She was wearing a flowy jade-colored, long-sleeved shirt. Her tail was also jade colored. The light shining on it made it sparkle.

**Matsuri POV:** After a few minutes, I turned back into my human form….And well…I'd rather not say what happened right after that... Anyways…

So, now Gaara knows about my secret. I have a feeling things are not going to be the same now. Oh, and I am planning on telling Mom and Kankuro about my secret. I'm just not sure how to though. Oh well, I'll figure something out.

**Yay! I finally uploaded chapter 4! Writing that part where Matsuri had to take off her wet clothes made me feel soooo perverted! Even though she was wearing another shirt under the wet shirt and she had a tail. Please review! **


	5. I need to tell you something

**This chapter is going to be pretty short. I have nothing else to say. Oh well, enjoy the chapter. (Maybe by the end of the chapter I'll have something to say. –laughs-) **

**I don't own Naruto, if I did, this wouldn't be a fan fiction, this would be an episode. Ninja mermaids! (I had to say that.)**

**Matsuri POV:** I poked the rice ball on my plate with a chopstick. I wasn't hungry. Oh guess what? I've decided to tell Mom and Kankuro about my secret …today…right now. I'm scared, what will they say when they find out? I'm not really sure why, but the fact that Gaara already knows my secret makes me feel a little more calm.

"E-excuse m-me," I stammered, breaking the silence. I nearly fainted when everybody looked at me.

"What is it, Matsuri?" Mom asked.

"I-I u-uh w-well, I-I need to t-tell you all something," I stuttered.

"What is it?" Kankuro asked.

"Well, I-I think I should show y-you i-instead of telling you," I stammered. I stood up, went to the sink, and turned the water on. I looked at everyone. Kankuro and Mom had confused looks on their faces. "Before I do this, let me just tell you, this isn't a dream, and I understand if you think I'm a freak or something." I said. _Wow, I didn't stutter when I said that. _ I turned back to the sink and splashed water on myself. I turned around and looked at everyone.

The white flash appeared. A few seconds later, it disappeared and I was sitting on the floor.

"What the heck?" Kankuro said.

"Matsuri!" Mom said. She ran to me and kneeled down next to me.

Kankuro stared at my tail.

"I-I," Mom started to say.

"It's okay, you can say it," I said.

"Has this been happening to you your entire life?" she asked.

"Yes," I nodded.

"When will you turn back into a human?" Kankuro asked.

"Kankuro!" Mom said, glaring at him. "Could you find a nicer way to say that?"

"It's okay," I said. "I'll turn back fifteen minutes after I've completely dried off."

"Does this happen every time you get wet?" Mom asked.

"Well, yeah, but I have a necklace, and if I wear it, I can get wet and I won't turn into a mermaid."

For a moment, nobody said anything.

"Y-you probably think I'm a freak or something," I said.

Mom hugged me.

"Of course I don't," She said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes," Mom said.

"Thank you," I said.

Mom looked at me.

"Actually, you look really cute like this," She said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," Mom said. She turned around and looked at Kankuro and Gaara. "Doesn't she look cute like this?" she asked.

"I guess," Kankuro said.

Gaara nodded.

I smiled.

"Arigato," I said.

**This chapter was not easy to write. It was hard to figure out how Temari and Kankuro would react in this situation. And sorry that the chapters are so short. I'm trying to make them longer. Please review!**


	6. First day of school

**Hi! Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. It took a while to get ideas for this story. **

**Matsuri POV: **I'm so scared. Today is the first day of school. I'm going to be in eighth grade. At least I'll know one person though; Gaara is going to the same school. He's starting seventh grade.

The school we go to requires the students to wear uniforms. My uniform is a white short-sleeved button-down shirt, a blue tie with a white stripe on it, a blue skirt that ends about two inches above my knees, white knee-high socks, and black shoes. When winter starts I have to wear a skirt that's a little longer and a long-sleeved button-down shirt. Gaaras uniform is similar to mine, he has to wear a white short-sleeved button-down shirt, a blue tie, blue pants, and black shoes.

After breakfast, me and Gaara left.

**Gaara POV: **"Are you ready to go?" I asked Matsuri.

"Y-yeah," she said. She grabbed her bag and followed me out the door.

"We're leaving!" I called to Temari.

"Ok, have fun! And good luck!" Temari replied.

"Kay," I said.

Today is the first day of a new school year. Matsuri is going to the same school as me.

When we were walking there, I noticed she looked scared.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

Matsuri looked up.

"Y-yeah, I-I'm a little s-scared though," she replied.

"Don't worry," I told her. She smiled. I smiled back. "Do you have your necklace?" I asked.

Matsuri nodded and pulled it out of her pocket.

"D-do they make anyone swim, d-during P.E. class?" She asked.

"No, this school doesn't have a pool," I replied.

"Oh good," she sighed. She put her necklace back into her pocket.

**Matsuri POV: **Ok, so I don't have to worry about swimming. That's good. But, will I be able to make friends? I hope so. I don't like being alone. It's really creepy. At least I already know one person.

"I-if you want, I can introduce you to my friends," Gaara said.

I smiled.

"Thank you, I-I'd like that," I said. Yay! Gaara's going to introduce me to his friends! I-I wonder if they'll like me.

"We're here," Gaara said.

I looked up and saw a two-story building. There was a sign that said Suna Middle school.

"What do you think?" Gaara asked.

"It's big," I replied.

Gaara smiled.

"You get used to it," He said. "Come on,"

I followed Gaara inside. He showed me around a little bit, and then we went to homeroom. (Even though we're in different grades, we have homeroom together.)

"Hey Gaara! What's up?" a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes asked Gaara.

"Not much you?" Gaara replied.

"Nothing really," the boy replied.

"This is Matsuri," Gaara said.

"Konechiwa," I said, bowing.

"Nice to meet you I'm Naruto Uzumaki," the boy said.

"Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun," I said.

Naruto-kun smiled.

The bell rang and we sat down.

"Hello class. My name is Iruka," the teacher said.

"Hello, Iruka-sensei," everyone said.

"Okay, how about we start by introducing yourselves. Say your name, what grade you're in, and something interesting about yourself," Iruka-sensei said. "You start," he pointed to a girl with pink hair and green eyes. She stood up.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, I'm in seventh grade, and I really love the color pink," she sat down. _She seems really nice._ I thought.

"I'm Shikamaru Nara," a boy with black eyes and long black hair in a high pony-tail said. "I'm in eighth grade, and I skipped a grade," Shikamaru sat down and a girl with brown eyes and brown hair in two buns stood up.

"My name is Tenten, I'm in seventh grade, and I really like sports and stuff," she said. Tenten sat down and a boy with brown hair and black eyes stood up.

"I'm Kiba Inuzuka, I'm in seventh grade, and I take my dog Akamaru with me everywhere," he said. Iruka-sensei had a worried look on his face. I guess he was worried that Kiba would bring Akamaru to school.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka, I'm in seventh grade, and my family owns a flower shop," a girl with ice-blue eyes and blonde hair said.

After every one had introduced themselves, the bell rang.

I looked at my schedule. I have science first. I showed my schedule to Gaara.

"W-where's room 404?" I asked.

"Go down the hall, it's the third door on the left," Gaara said.

"Thank you," I said.

"No problem, I'll see you at lunch," He replied.

"Okay, thank you," I said.

I got to class and sat in the back of the room.

"Hi!" The girl sitting next to me said.

I smiled.

"Hello," I said.

"I'm Sari, what's your name?" She said.

"N-nice to meet you Sari-chan, I'm M-Matsuri," I replied.

"Well, now that we know each others' names, we're friends now!" Sari said.

"Okay!" I smiled.

})i({ })i( })i({

**Gaara POV:** "Gaara! Matsuri said. I turned around and saw Matsuri, she was with another girl.

"Hi Gaara-kun! I'm Sari!" the girl said.

"Hello, Sari-chan," I said.

She smiled.

"I see you've already made a friend," I said to Matsuri. "Good for you."

Matsuri smiled.

**Matsuri POV:** Gaara introduced me to his friends. Everyone was really nice. And I didn't have to use my necklace today either, which is really good. I think I'm going to like it at this school.

**I've been working on this chapter for the past three days. And by the way, school is starting next week, so I won't be uploading any of my stories as often. I'm going to try to upload one more time before school starts, but don't hold your breath. If I can't, then the next chapter will probably be uploaded on Friday or something. Anyways, see you!**


	7. Rain

**Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while, school started so…**

**So yeah, anyways, I hope you like the next chapter! (I am in a very happy mood right now. Lol)**

**I don't own Naruto, or Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.**

**Ages: Gaara is 13, Matsuri is 14, Kankuro is 16, and Temari is 19.**

**Matsuri POV:** A few hours later, school was over. Gaara and I started walking home.

"So how was your first day?" Gaara asked. "Do you like it here?"

"Yeah, I like it a lot," I smiled.

Gaara smiled.

"That's good," he said.

I noticed that it was a little colder than it was earlier.

"Is it just me, or is it kind of…cold?" I asked.

Gaara stopped walking for a second.

"It is," he said. He continued walking.

"It looks like it's going to rain soon," I said.

"Actually, I think it's going to rain today," Gaara replied.

"Oh," I said.

We continued walking home, completely forgetting that I can't get wet. When a rain drop almost landed on my arm, I remembered.

"Wait a minute," I said. More rain drops were falling down now.

"What?" Gaara asked.

"I can't get wet!" I said, a little too loud. I looked around to make sure nobody heard me. Luckily, no one did.

Gaara gasped. Then he held his backpack over my head.

"Thanks," I said.

"Where's your necklace?" Gaara asked.

I pulled my necklace out of my pocket. Before putting it on, I looked around to make sure nobody was around. There were some cars driving by but considering it was raining a lot now, there wasn't really any people walking around. I don't want anyone to see what's about to happen.

"C-can you make sure nobody sees me, p-please?" I asked Gaara.

"Okay," he said. I leaned against a fence and Gaara stood in front of me so no cars driving by would see me.

"Don't freak out," I warned. Gaara looked confused.

I put my necklace one. There was another white flash, around me. But not as bright as the one that appears when I transform. A few seconds later, it stopped.

"Okay," I sighed. "I can get wet now," I stuck my arm out and let rain drops fall on my arm. "Thank you, Gaara," I said.

"No problem, does that happen every time you put that necklace on?" he replied, putting his backpack back on.

"Yeah, but you can only see it if it's dark, so if I put it on during school then nobody would've seen, since it's kind of dark right now you were able to see," I replied. "Does that make sense?" I asked.

"Kind of," Gaara replied.

"Yeah, this while mermaid thing is pretty confusing," I said, while jumping into a puddle. Hey, I can get wet now, might as well enjoy it. "Sometimes it's even confusing to me."

**Gaara POV:** I think I'm starting to get used to the fact that my niece is a mermaid.

I watched her spin around and jump in puddles. I could tell she was having a lot of fun.

"It's cold," _she_ said.

I smiled.

Matsuri giggled and continued to spin around. She started humming some random song.

_That song sounds familiar._ I thought. _Isn't it from an anime or something?_ Then I recognized it. That's the opening theme song for Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch. She's been watching that show a lot lately. A mermaid watching a TV show about mermaids, interesting.

**Matsuri POV:** A few minutes later, Gaara and I were home. We were both freezing. Maybe jumping in puddles and trying to get as wet as possible was a bad idea.

"I'm cold," I said.

"Same here," Gaara said. "I'm going to go change, I'll be right back."

"Okay," I said.

_I should probably change too._ I thought. I went to my room.

I put my backpack on my bed and changed into a light blue tunic and white leggings. Then I got a towel and dried my hair and took off my necklace. Then I went back to the living room.

"Hi," I said to Gaara.

"Hey," he greeted. He was now wearing a black T-shirt, some jeans, and a grey hoodie.

"Do you want to watch TV?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied.

We sat on the couch and started flipping through the channels.

**This chapter was really fun to write. Sorry if the ending wasn't so good. Please review! :)**


	8. Meet my friends!

**This story is so fun to write!**

**I don't own Naruto. I do own Kokoro, Ran, Hikari, and Hoshi. **

**I hope you like this chapter! :)**

**(By the way, I changed my mind about something. When Matsuri and her mermaid friends transform into mermaids, the clothes they were wearing disappear, then reappear when they transform back into humans.)**

**Matsuri POV: **I'm so excited! It's Saturday and we're going to the beach! I'll get to see my mermaid friends again! Their names are Kokoro, Ran, Hikari, Hoshi, and Hotaru. I haven't seen them in three years!

The only bad thing is that there is a chance I could transform in front of everybody. I'll have to be really careful.

Finally, we got there. After helping everyone set up some chairs and an umbrella, I put on my necklace and went into the water. I hid behind some rocks and took off my necklace. After transforming, I fell into the water. I sat up and tied my necklace around my wrist. (It'll only keep me from turning into a mermaid if it's around my neck.) Then I went to find my friends.

Even though I haven't been here in years, I still remember where the place my friends and I hang out is.

"Hey everyone!" I called when I got there. My friends looked up.

"Matsuri!" they said. They swam to me and we all hugged.

"Come on! There's some people I want you to meet!" I said. My friends love meeting humans. While we were swimming to the surface, we talked about what has happened the past few years. Everyone had so many amazing stories.

We got to the surface, transformed, and put our necklaces on.

**Temari POV:** "Hey everybody, meet my friends!" Matsuri called. There were five girls with her.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kokoro," one girl said. She had bright pink hair that was down to her waist and green eyes. She looked kind of like Gaaras friend, Sakura, except her hair was a little darker. She was wearing a hot pink sundress.

"My name is Ran," another girl said. She had short lavender hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a lavender tank top and blue shorts

"I'm Hikari," another girl said. She had light blue hair that was tied up in pigtails and blue eyes. She was wearing a blue t-shirt and a blue skirt.

"M-my name is Hoshi," one girl said. She had waist-length white hair that was tied up in a ponytail. Her bangs hung in her eyes a little.

"And I'm Hotaru," another girl said. She had sand-colored hair. She was wearing a dark purple tank top and blue shorts.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"Hajimemashite," Gaara and Kankuro said.

We talked for a while. Later they showed us their mermaid forms. Kokoros tail is bright pink, Rans tail is lavender, Hikaris tail is light blue, Hoshis tail is white, and Hotarus tail is dark purple.

This was a good day. Matsuri and her friends didn't transform in front of everybody. We should go to the beach again soon.

**I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry if the ending wasn't so good. Please review and tell me what you think. **

**I'm going to be really busy next weekend so I might not upload.**

**Till next time! See you! :)**


	9. Problem

**Oh chiz! I'm so sorry that it took forever to upload this chapter! I've been really really busy lately and I haven't gotten a chance to upload. I'm sorry! –Bows in apology-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…if I did then the Akatsuki wouldn't be bad guys…they'd just be a group of random ninjas. :)**

**Matsuri POV: **I closed my locker door and started walking to Gaara's locker. School was finally over. While walking to Gaara's locker, I saw that I was raining a little. I put my hand in my pocket to make sure that my necklace was still in there. It was.

I was almost at Gaara's locker when I felt a stinging pain. I looked up and saw three kids: a girl with red eyes, black glasses, and red hair that was long on one side and short on the other side, a boy with shoulder-length white hair and bangs and black eyes, and another boy with black eyes and spikey orange hair.

"Watch where you're walking," the girl said.

"G-gomenasai," I said, hiding behind my bangs. She gave me a mean look.

I stood up but then the boy with white hair pushed me back onto the floor.

Not knowing what to do, I curled up into a ball, hoping that they would leave. They didn't.

"You almost tripped me," the girl said to me.

_Well you really did trip me…I think. _ I thought.

The three kids started coming closer to me. I looked away and closed my eyes.

"Leave her alone!" two people said. I looked up. It was Naruto and Sasuke!

"What are you doing here?" the boy with orange hair asked them.

Sasuke turned around.

Go, now! He mouthed to me.

I quickly crawled away. I was crawling away so fast that I didn't feel my necklace fall out of my pocket.

Gaara knelt down next to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded.

That was really scary. I thought that the days of people being mean to me were over. Guess not. I started crying. Gaara pulled me into a tight hug.

"A-arigato," I managed to whisper.

"Matsuri chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked. I looked at him.

"Yes, t-thank you," I stammered.

Then I saw something lying on the floor. _Is that my?_ I put my hand in my pocket. _Oh no! _I thought. _What do I do?_

"G-Gaara," I whispered.

"What?" he asked.

I mouthed the word Necklace to him, and then pointed at it, and then I pointed out the window.

Hurry! He mouthed to me.

I nodded, and then I crawled to the necklace.

"Hey what's this?" the girl asked, looking at the necklace. _Oh no._

"I-it's mine, I-it m-must have f-fallen off," I said.

"Really?" she replied. I nodded.

Then she smiled to herself.

"Well in that case," she said.

Crunch.

I stared in horror at the broken shell. Then I remembered something.

I stood up and ran down the hall as fast as I could.

_I only have a few more seconds, where do I go?_ I thought.

Luckily, everybody had left.

I almost made it to the girls' bathroom, but then I tripped. The bright white flash appeared.

_No! T-this can't be happening!_

"Hey, Matsuri-chan! Where are you?" Naruto called.

I gasped. _No! I-I can't let him see this!_

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure we can fix you're necklace-"Then he saw me.

"P-please don't freak out," I asked.

"What the-" Naruto said.

Then Gaara and Sasuke appeared.

"Hey, Matsuri, we finally got them to leave," Sasuke said. Then he started talking about how it was annoying how they wouldn't go away.

When he saw me, he stopped talking.

Being a mermaid can really suck sometimes.

"Wait, I-I can explain!" I said. I sat up and beckoned for them to come closer.

Then I explained everything.

"Please don't tell anyone," I begged.

"We won't," They promised.

"Thank you," I said.

"When will you turn back into a human?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nudged him in the stomach.

"It's okay," I said.

"So, when will you transform back?" Naruto asked.

"Well, if I transform because I got wet, then fifteen minutes after I've completely dried off," I answered.

"Okay, but I don't remember you getting wet," Sasuke replied.

"W-well, y-you know how that girl broke my necklace?" I asked. Everyone nodded.

"I won't turn back," I said. They gasped.

"Y-you won't?" Gaara asked. I shook my head.

"Unless my necklace is fixed, I'll stay like this forever," I replied. "But it's not easy to fix it."

I started crying again. Gaara knelt down next to me and hugged me again.

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll figure something out."

"How are we going to get home?" Naruto asked.

We looked out the window. It was pouring now.

"I'll call Temari and tell her to come and pick us up," Gaara said.

"Thank you," I said. Then I looked at Sasuke and Naruto.

"Thank you guys, thank you so much," I said.

They smiled sweetly.

Then Sasuke handed me something. It was the cord and some of the big pieces of the shell.

"Thank you," I said.

"Come on, we'll take you to see if there's any more pieces of the shell left," Naruto said. With that, he picked me up bridal-style.

"Thank you," I said.

I held onto the pieces of the necklace tighter.

"I explained everything to Temari, she said she'll be here as soon as possible," Gaara said, putting his cell phone back into his pocket.

"Thank you," I said.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara took me back to the spot where the incident happened. I got the rest of the shell pieces and put them in my backpack.

After I made sure that I had all the pieces, Gaara and Sasuke went to see if Mom was here yet. She was.

Then Gaara carried me to the car. Sasuke opened the door and Gaara placed me in the car.

Immediately, Mom pulled me into a tight hug.

"Don't worry sweetie, w-we'll find a way to make everything go back to normal," she said.

**Chiz, it took forever to type all that out! **

**Originally this story was going to have some Sasuke bashing and Sasuke was going to be friends with Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo, but I'm not really in the mood for Sasuke bashing, so I decided to make him be friends with everyone else. **

**I'm not sure why, but Suigetsu and Juugo kinda creep me out… (no offense if you like those characters. That's just my opinion…)**

**Anyways! I hope you liked this chapter! Please review! :3**


	10. Temari's thoughts

**Hello everyone! **

**I'm kind of in a hurry right now, so this chapter's going to be pretty short. (I should probably wait until tomorrow to post this, but I want to upload all my stories today.)**

**Anyways, enjoy! ^-^**

**Temari POV:** I said good night to everybody. Then I went to the kitchen and made some tea.

After making it, I went to the living room, sat on the floor, and stared out the window. I do this every night after saying good night to everyone. Doing this gives me a chance to be alone and think about anything and everything.

Like when I was in the process of adopting Matsuri, I would think about it a lot. I would question if I should be adopting her. I mean, I'm nineteen for crying out loud! Most nineteen-year-olds don't adopt fourteen-year-olds.

But a few days after she came to live with us, I realized that everything was going to be fine. And that adopting her wasn't a bad decision.

I crawled to the window and rested my head and arms against the window sill.

_What do I do? Matsuri is stuck in her mermaid form and who knows when she'll be able to turn back. _I sighed. _I wonder if there's anything I can do to help?_

"M-mom," a quiet voice behind me, said.

I turned around and smiled at Matsuri.

She smiled back and then started crawling toward me.

"I had a-another nightmare," she said. "T-the same o-one that I a-always have."

I crawled to her and gently pulled her into a hug. She rested her head against my shoulder.

I stroked the back of her head. I've found that it helps her calm down. Her tail twitched a little bit.

"M-mom," Matsuri said.

"Yes?" I replied.

"C-can I s-stay with you?" Matsuri asked.

"Of course," I said, still stroking the back of her head.

"T-thank you," she said.

I smiled and hugged her a little tighter.

A few minutes later, she fell asleep. I slowly picked her up bridal-style and carried her to my room.

I laid her down on my bed and pulled a blanket over her. Then I laid down next to her and wrapped my arms around her.

"Good night, sweetie," I whispered to her.

**Chiz, that was short. I knew this chapter was going to be short but I didn't think it would be this short! Sorry if it wasn't that good. I'm in a hurry right now. **

**Please review**

**See you! ^-^**


	11. Another nightmare

**Hello everyone! I probably sound hyper right now…actually I'm really tired. But I'm going to act like I'm peppy though. :)**

**Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. **

**So yeah, I know that in the summary, it says why does Matsuri freak out when she's alone? When I was coming up with ideas for this story, I thought "Hey! Maybe I can have Matsuri flip out whenever she's left alone!"…and then I started writing this, and I haven't had that happen much. So, to try to fix that, I'm going to try to make this chapter be focused on her phobia. **

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Matsuri POV: ** I pulled myself onto my bed. I stared at my tail. _Tomorrow, I'm going to start fixing my necklace!_ I thought.

Normally, I kind of like being in my mermaid form. But lately, it's been really annoying. I have to drag myself everywhere. And I have to stay inside, and I have to stay away from windows. I'm so ready to transform back into my human form.

_I'm so tired._ I thought. I haven't been sleeping much lately. And when I do sleep, I always end up having that nightmare. So, for the past two nights, I've been awake. I hate it. My room gets so dark at night. It's creepy and it makes me feel alone. I'm sure by now you can tell that I hate being alone. I'm not really sure why, but for some reason, we mermaids just freak out when we're alone. Kokoro, Ran, Hoshi and Hikari are the same way.

It sucks. But, it's just something we have to deal with.

I yawned. Now, I'm pretty much forcing myself to stay awake. I really don't want to have that nightmare again.

Then, everything started to get blurry.

"_Huh? W-Where am I?" I said._

"_Matsuri! Run!" two people yelled at me._

"_W-what a-are you talking about?" I asked._

_Then something flew past me and landed in the ground. I went to get a closer look at it. I gasped when I realized that it was a knife._

_Another knife flew toward me. I screamed and jumped out of the way, I landed on my hands and knees._

"_Mom! Dad!" I screamed, standing up._

_Then…I saw them…fall to the ground._

_I screamed and fell to the ground, crying._

"_Mom, Dad, no!" I cried._

"Matsuri," someone said, waking me up.

"Huh?" I said.

"Matsuri," Gaara said.

"G-Gaara?" I said.

"Dinner is ready," Gaara said.

"Oh, ok, one second," I said. Then I started to feel really scared.

_Oh no! My stupid anxiety is acting up!_ I thought. For some weird reason, we mermaids have these anxiety…issues. (Yes, Kokoro, Ran, Hikari, and Hoshi have this too.) And our anxiety usually acts up whenever we're alone. That's why I hate being alone so much.

_But I'm not alone, Gaara's standing right outside my room._ But why do I feel alone? I thought. I carefully got off my bed and quickly dragged myself to the door.

"I'll be downstairs, or do you want me to help you get down the stairs?" Gaara said as I pulled the door open.

I grabbed his hoodie and held onto it tightly. He looked down at me.

"Please, d-don't leave," I said, leaning against his leg. I started to cry a little. I hid behind my bangs.

Gaara sighed, but not in an annoyed way. He knelt down and hugged me. (This isn't the first time this had happened. And Mom, Kankuro, and Gaara all know about my anxiety.)

I leaned against Gaara's chest. He stroked the back of my head.

"Are you ok?" Gaara asked after a minute.

I wiped away a tear and looked up at him.

"Yeah, t-thanks," I said.

Gaara smiled sweetly at me. Then he put one arm around me and slid his other arm under my tail and carried me downstairs.

I put my head on his chest and played with the strings on his hoodie.

"Hi," Mom said.

"Hey," Kankuro said.

"Hello," I said.

Gaara carefully put me on a chair and we all had dinner.

**Ok, so this chapter wasn't as focused on Matsuri not liking it when she alone, as I thought it would be. Darn it! That anxiety thing that Matsuri has is real. Sometimes, people will freak out when they're alone. **

**One more thing! To those of you that read my story Hinata Hime Jinsei Kaeru Negai (Princess Hinata Life Changing Wish.) I'm making a sequel! It's called Hanabi Hime Jinsei Kaeru Ketsudan (Princess Hanabi Life Changing Decision.) **

**I have a poll on my profile. I'm not sure which story to start next. If you voted, I'd really, really, really appreciate it.:)**


	12. Chakra

**I'm so sorry it took me so long to upload!**

**I'm going to try to upload all of my stories at least once a week.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Matsuri POV:** Ok! It's time to start fixing my necklace!

It's been four days since the…incident.

I don't know why I waited so long to start fixing it. But the important thing is that I'm fixing it now…right?

I took a deep breath and put my hand over the shattered remains of my necklace.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention something!

We mermaids have this thing called chakra. It's a type of energy inside our bodies.

It's actually quite useful, we can do all kinds of things with it.

And today, I'm going to use my chakra to fix my necklace so I can go back to my human form. I'm so ready to transform back. Don't get me wrong, I kinda like being in my mermaid form, but I like it more when I'm in water. When I'm on land, I'd rather be in my human form. It's not fun having to drag myself everywhere.

I took another deep breath and started to focus my chakra into my hand.

A blue sphere of chakra came from my hand and surrounded my necklace. I smiled. Fixing my necklace is going to be easy. I just have to keep pouring my chakra into it for a week.

True, it is going to take a while, but I'll be worth it!

Wish me luck!

**Sorry about this chapter's shortness! When I wrote this down in my notebook, it looked a lot longer. :P**

**Anyways, I'm going to try to upload on Friday.**

**See you! ^_^**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm so sorry it took so long to post this! DX**

**This is the last chapter. Thank you so much for reading this story. It means a lot!–hugs-**

**I don't own Naruto.**

"I'm almost done," I said to Gaara.

He smiled.

"That's good," he said. "Hey, Matsuri."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," I told him. "What do you want to tell me?"

Gaara took a deep breath.

"Matsuri, I really like you," he said.

I blushed. _Does he mean what I think he means? _I thought._ D-does he really feel the same way about me?_

I have to admit, ever since I met Gaara, I've had a crush on him, but I wasn't sure if he felt the same way.

"Matsuri, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.

"Yes!" I replied.

Gaara smiled.

Then he put his hand on my shoulder, and his other hand on my cheek, and he kissed me.

While we kissed, I finished fixing my necklace, and I began to transform back into a human.

When we broke the kiss, we looked down. I was in my human form again, and I was wearing my school uniform.

"You're back!" Gaara said, hugging me.

I hugged him back and rested my head against his chest.

"Come on, let's go show Temari and Kankuro," Gaara said, grabbing my hand.

I stood up, and we went to the living room to show everyone.

"Matsuri!" Mom said, hugging me. "Your back!"

Kankuro smiled and ruffled my hair.

_I'm really happy right now. _I thought. _I'm glad that I live with this family._

**Oh my gosh, this story is over now.**

**Thank you so much for reading it! –hugs-**

**I might put some pictures of Matsuri's mermaid form on Deviantart. (My username is ChibiButterflyNinja.)**


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